Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars

King of Grapes: Cabernet Sauvignons Rise to Power

While Napa Valley is known for the magnificence of its Cabernet Sauvignons,
its reputation was not always inextricably bound with what has become known as
the “king” of Vitis vinifera grapes. In fact, the story of how Cabernet Sauvignon came
to be the dominant grape variety in Napa Valley (nearly a third of the valley’s acreage
is planted to Cabernet today) is one that involves over a century of perseverance by the
growers, winemakers, and winery owners who believed in its potential here.

Historical records show that while Cabernet Sauvignon was grown in Santa Clara County
as early as the 1850’s, the variety didn’t gain a foothold in Napa Valley until the mid-1880’s.
Several prominent figures from the history of Napa Valley winemaking used Cabernet
Sauvignon to make “clarets” – red wine blends that often included Merlot, Malbec,
Petit Verdot or even Zinfandel – fashioned after the great wines of Bordeaux.

But the onslaught of phylloxera
in Napa Valley vineyards in the
late 1800’s threatened Cabernet
Sauvignon’s survival, and it wasn’t
until Frenchman Georges de Latour
planted 20 acres of Cabernet
Sauvignon (probably the largest
planting of the variety in California 1) that interest in the grape was revived.
The Oakville Experiment Station,
established for vine, climate and soil research, and a new agricultural college run by
the University of California pressured growers and wine producers to shift their
focus to varieties other than Zinfandel and Mission grapes; in the early years of the
20th century small plots of Cabernet Sauvignon began to dot the valley.

Prohibition dealt all grape varieties in Napa Valley a fatal blow in 1918. And though
repeal in 1933 brought about renewed efforts to champion the cause of “noble”
varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, most growers stuck with grapes they knew
were easy to grow and most importantly, easy to sell. America’s taste during the
1940’s and 1950’s ran mostly to sweet, even dessert-like wines, and by the 1960’s
Cabernet was still less widely planted than Zinfandel, Petite Sirah and Carignane.

That slowly changed over the course of the
1960’s and 1970’s as America’s tastes broadened
and new entrepreneurs recognized the potential
of Napa Valley. One of these newcomers was
Nathan Fay, who in the early 1950’s bought
205 acres – including a prune orchard – in
what would become known as the Stags Leap
District. Fay, who had a deep appreciation of
the role Cabernet Sauvignon played in the
wines of Bordeaux, replaced his prune trees
with Cabernet Sauvignon vines in the early
1960’s. The decision paid off. By the end
of the decade Fay was selling his fruit to
producers such as Mondavi, Krug, and Heitz –
who in turn became known for their Cabernet Sauvignons. And of course it is
Fay’s vineyard – which we continue to call by his name – that in more recent years
has taken its place as a cornerstone of Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars highly regarded
Cabernet Sauvignon program.

While Cabernet Sauvignon started to take off in the 1970’s, it was the 1976 ‘Judgment
of Paris’ that ultimately sealed the variety’s fate in Napa Valley. In this famous blind
tasting which pitted California Cabernets against first-growth and other renowned
wines of Bordeaux, the 1973 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars S.L.V. Cabernet Sauvignon was
ranked the #1 wine. A scandal amongst the French judges who could scarcely believe the
results, the Paris Tasting served to legitimize what Napa Valley growers and winemakers
had long known to be true: that Napa Valley could produce Cabernet Sauvignons that
rival – and even outperform – the world’s finest examples of the varietal.

In the 35 years since the Paris tasting, Cabernet Sauvignon has had no serious rival in
Napa Valley. In the 1980’s America’s love affair with white wine spawned significant
plantings of Chardonnay, and the phylloxera scourge of the late 1980’s and early 1990’s
brought some speculation that Cabernet Sauvignon would give way to Rhone varieties,
but in the end, Cabernet Sauvignon has firmly held its ground. For the time being – and
with good reason – Cabernet Sauvignon remains the undisputed “king” of Napa Valley.